Glass Mountain, Innsbruck Court Glassworks, 1570-1591. Wood, paper, iron wire, glass, glass dust, oil paint. H. 36 cm, W. 20 cm, D. 17.5 cm. Ambras Castle Innsbruck, PA 1184 © KHM Museums Association, Scientific Institution under Public Law.

A mountain-like structure, decorated with bushes and trees, rises from a square wooden base. The trees and bushes have wire trunks, while the branches and leaves are made of mostly green glass. The figurines populating the mountain, as well as the round, blue rods of the enclosure that surrounds the artificial mountain like a cage, are also made of glass.

Small birds perch on the treetops and bushes; swans and unidentifiable figures can be seen in a cave; finally, a hunting party and Actaeon come into view on the mountain slopes. According to Greek myth, Actaeon surprised the virgin goddess Artemis in her bath while hunting; as punishment, she transformed him into a stag, and he was torn apart by his own hounds. The concept of the mountain with its intricate scenes and figures is similar to that of the hand-carved stones in the collection of Archduke Ferdinand II (cf. Inv. No.: KK_4167). The bizarre mountain creates a constructed, artificially designed nature, which is captured and tamed within the cage-like enclosure. This idea of a freely playful nature, which the human mind must contain and limit, practically demanded an enclosure that would concentrate the natural imagination; the glass cage is such a container on a small scale, as is the art cabinet of the Renaissance on a larger scale. The Ambras inventory of 1596 mentions a "stuckh in aim viereggeten glesern cästl", which is very likely identical to the object shown here.